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E. W. CARPENTER JAR OPENER.

APPUCATION HLED MAY 12, l9l9.

1,324,494. Patented Dec. 9,1919.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR AfTORNEY "cairn sna FFTQE ATE? EDNARD VI. CARPENTER,OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSTGNOR T0 E. 'W'. CAREENTER MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF BBIDGEPORT, CGNNEC TICUT, A

CORPORATION OF CGNNECTICUT.

JAR-OPENER.

Application filed May 12 To all whom it may concern Be it known that I.EDWARD l/V. CARPEN- TER, a citizen of the United States, residing at1837 North avenue, Bridgeport, county otF airfield, State ofConnecticut, have in vented an Improvement in Jar-Openers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a tool that will facilitatethe opening of fruit jars, more especially the type in which the neck ofthe jar is provided with a shoulder upon which a gasket rests and aflanged cap resting on the gasket is secured in place by any of the wellknown types of wire clamps, without danger of cracking the ncrk of thejar.

it is of course well understood that in putting up either vegetables oranimal foods in jars the vacuum is made as nearly coniplcte as possible,so that in addition to more or less sticking of the flange of the cap tothe gasket and of the gasket to the shoulder on the jar there is a heavyatmosphere pressure frequently from ten to fourteen pounds to the squareinch, to be overcome in opening the jar. The result is that it isextremely diflicult to remove the caps and frequently practicallyimpossible to do so without the use of tools, which are not always handyand are furthermore not well adapted to the purpose.

The present invention enables me to provide a tool, so simple and strongas to be practically fool proof and so inexpensive to produce as toplace it within the reach of all, that may be used by a person whollyunskilled in the use of ordinary tools, and that will enable jars to beopened without any difficulty whatever and without danger of injury tothe jar, or of rendering the contents'unfit for use on account of brokenglass. The function of the tool is to lift the cap sufliciently to causethe admission of air to the jaw either between the gasket and the flangeof the cap or between the gasket and the shoulder on the jaw. Thisdestroys the vacuum and makes it quite easy to remove the cap.

With this object in view I have devised the novel tool which I will nowdescribe referring to the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification and using reference characters to indicate the severalparts.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 191%.

Serial No. 298,411.

Figure 1 is a plan view showing a jar with the clamp turned out ofoperative position, and showing the use of my novel tool in admittingair between the gasket and the flange of the cap; v

Fig. 2 an elevation corresponding therewith, and partly in section onthe line 22 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 3 is a detached. v

10 denotes an ordinary glassfruit jar, so called, the neck of which isprovided with a circular shoulder 11 on which arubber gasket 12 rests.13 denotes the cap which is provided with a downwardly extending flangelt which fits loosely over'the neck of the jar and the edge of whichrests on the gasket. Af er the jar has been filled and the air exhaustedin the usual or in any preferred manner, the cap is secured in place bymeans of a clamp which is secured to the jar by means of a wire band 21which encircles the neck of the jar and lies under a shoulder 15. Theclamp comprises essentially a holding loop- 16, the midlength of whichis adapted to lie between lugs 17 on the top of the cap and the ends ofwhich are pivoted in eyes 18 in a clamping loop 19, the ends of thepiece ofwire of which the clamping loop is formed being bent atsubstantially a right angle to the loop and pivoted in eye pieces 20,which are secured to band 21. To unlock the cap, the clamping loop isswung upward as far as possible which leaves the holding loop looseenough so that it can be swung over out of the way, as shown in thedrawing.

My novel opening tool consists simply of a flexible metallic strap 22and a lever 23 which is provided with a circular head 24: having abeveled edge, indicated by 25. Each end of the strap is provided with aslot 26 and on opposite sides of the slot with eyes 27. The head ofthelever lies in one of the slots and the eyes are pivoted on theopposite ends of a pin 28 which passes through the head and ispreferably seated tightly therein, although if preferred the pin may lieloosely in a hole through the head and the parts be secured in place byheading down the ends of the pin outside the eyes. The slot at the otherend of the strap receives the shank of the lever at a the perspectiveview of the tool tance from pin 28, and the parts are secured in place ymeans of a pin 29 which passes through the shank of the lever and on theends of which the corresponding eyes are pivoted. The pin may be settightly in the shank of the lever or it preferred it may be loose and besecured in place by heading down its ends outside the eyes. The pins 28and 29 are placed far enough apart to give plenty of leverage and ampleallowance for variation in size of the necks of jars.

The operation is as follows: Having swung the holding loop of the clampout of operative position, as already described, the operator places thestrap of the tool over the neck of the jar and then swings the lever inthe direction to cause the strap to grip the neck of the jar andsiinultaneously to lorce the beveled edge of the head either between thegasket and the shoulder on the jar or between the gasket and the flangeon the cap, the latter position of. the head being shown in Fig. 2,although it is wholly immaterial which side of the gasket the head isplacer The elfect of forcing the head of the lever between the shoulderon the jar and the flange on the cap, whether it be forced in above orbelow the gasket, is to pry up the edge of the cap and admit air to thejar which instantly destroys the vacuum and leaves the cap loose so thatit may be readily lifted off. It is an essential feature of theinvention that the position of pin 28 with relation to the circular edgeof the head is such that full swing may he given to the lever and theedge will clear the neck of the jar, thus avoiding danger of crackingthe jar and of broken glass in the contents.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A tool of the character described comprising a flexible metallic strap,a lever having a circular head with a beveled edge, one end oi the strapbeing pivoted to the lever adjacent said head, and the other end of saidstrap being pivoted to the circular head, eccentrically with respectthereto, and so the greatest distance between the pivot point and theouter edge of the head is slightly shorter than the shoulder of the jarneck, whereby a full swing of the lever permits a clearance between theedge of the jar neck as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

EDVV XRD W. CARPENTER.

